Pessary



Feb. 18, 1941.

w. K. MCCORMICK ETAL PESSARY Filed June 14, 1958 INVENTURE.

MAETEIN Patented Feb. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PESSARY Application June 14, 1938, Serial N0. 213,644

2 Claims.

This invention relates to pessaries, and its principal object is to provide a comfortable, unnoticeable and. unirritating support for medicaments which can be, or which are applied to the head of the cervix, and held in place against the head of the cervix by means of the mushroom end of the pessary and which may be inserted in position by an inexpensive instrument which any person can afford.

The object in having the mushroom end of the pessary soft and pliable is to serve a double purpose, one for comfort and one so that the edge of the mushroom end can be lifted up, from time to time, with the proper instrument, the infected surface of the head of the cervix cleaned, and fresh medicaments applied, then upon releasing the edge of the mushroom end which has been turned back, it will immediately assume its regular contour, and the medicaments which have been applied to the head of the cervix will be held firmly in place until it is necessary to remove them again.

Another object of the pessary is toprevent foreign substance, of any source, from the vaginal cavity, from getting into the cervical canal,

or onto the infected surface of the head of the cervix; and at the same time to allow for drainage from the fundus of the uterus out through the cervical canal and cervical orifice, if such drainage is required.

Fig. 1 is a sectional View through the uterus and adjacent parts of a subject and showing our device applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective detail of the pessary.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the pessary ready for insertion in the cervical orifice.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the pessary.

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the expander.

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of the anchor.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The vaginal cavity of the patient is indicated by the numeral l, the neck of the uterus by 2, the cervical orifice by 3, and the fundus of the uterus by 4.

Our device consists of a flexible tube 5 having a mushroom head 6 at its lower end through which the tube orifice 5 extends as clearly indicated in Fig. 4. The head 6 is provided with an annular feather edge B so as to eliminate any sharp corner to produce discomfort. A tube 1 formed of thin readily expansible rubber or other suitable elastic material is vulcanized to the upper end of the tube 5 and is provided with a bifurcated upper end forming tubular fingers 1 and 1.

' a washer ID at HP.

8 is an expander formed V-shaped to provide spring fingers 8 and 8 which are inserted in the tubular rubber fingers 1 and 1 as clearly seen in Fig. 4. 9 is a flexible cable connected to the member 8 as indicated at 9 The cable 9 depends through the tube 5 and is secured to The washer I is embedded in an annular recess l I in the mushroom head 6 thus anchoring the expander 8 in position. In order to insert the device through the cervical orifice, the fingers 1 and 1 are held together by a soluble capsule 12 (see Fig. 3).

The physician then inserts a probe or other suitable instrument through the orifice to engage the expander. The upper end of the tube as indicated in Fig. 3 is then inserted into the cervical orifice and passed upward through the neck of the cervix until the capsule and fingers of the tube 1 protrude into the fundus of the uterus and the head 6 bears against the head of the cerw'x as shown in Fig. l.

The tube 1 is of thin readily expandible material so that the fingers extending into the fundus expand when the capsule is dissolved assuming the position shown in Fig. 1.

Our device is left in this position for a period extending from three days after the menstrual period to the day before the next period.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A pessary comprising a flexible tube adapted to fit a cervical orifice, an expandible portion at the inner end of the tube, a V-shaped expander member located in the expandible portion and freely movable therein, means for preventing the inward movement of the tube in the cervical orifice, a flexible cable connected at its extreme inner end to the V-shaped. member at its apex to form a universal joint, and an anchoring member embedded in the walls of the tube at its outer end and to which the cable is connected.

2. A pessary comprising a flexible tube adapted to fit a cervical orifice, an expandible portion formed integral with the inner end of the tube, a V-shaped expander member located in the expandible portion and having a loop at its apex, an internal groove formed in the outer end of the tube, a washer fitting the groove, a flexible cable connected to the washer and having a looped inner end engaging the loop of the expander member, and means for preventing the inward movement of the tube in the cervical orifice.

WILLIAM KLIE' MCCORMICK. METHVEN ADAMSON STEIN. 

